Don't run with scissors

 One of the benefits of teaching preschool virtually is the reduction of worry for my students' safety. When we are in the classroom, I am monitoring, guiding, buffering, and diligently checking for the safety of my students... constantly. I am a mother hen counting her chicks over and over and over, ensuring no one has wandered off. When I see all my students in their neat little boxes on Zoom, I see them at their kitchen tables, in their living rooms, an adult nearby or sitting right there with them. There's no need for me to call out for the children to walk, not run, or to keep their hands to themselves, or not to throw that block. So as much as I ache for the mess and controlled chaos of my classroom, I recognize that the role of lifeguard has been lifted while my students are in their own homes. 

However, today during a lesson, the kiddos were delighting in watching two different genres of drumming, then sharing their noticings, comparisons, and. opinions (I like the big drums because they're really loud. The people were playing those long drums with their hands. Those guys had on funny hats while they played music...) I was scanning the squares on Zoom and to my horror, a lively student had scissors in her mouth! Blade first, hand on the handle opening and closing them! WHERE IS HER GROWNUP?! I hurried and unmuted myself so I could interrupt my teaching resident, fully in her groove of guiding this percussion discussion, and with a very rare, stern tone, said "H, Stop! Take those scissors OUT of your mouth. We do NOT put scissors in our mouths." She followed my instruction and just out of the frame I could see a grownup remove the scissors from her work area. We had a quick review of why scissors do not go near our mouths (or hair, or clothes, or pets...) and how we can safely use this tool, then got back to the college drumline and Senegalese Drum Band. 

Oy vey. 

Perhaps those scissors popped my virtual safety bubble today....